Parliament, Thursday, 5 February 2026 – The Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation has welcomed plans by the Mpumalanga Department of Economic Development to revive several industrial parks in the province that were started by the old homelands’ governments.
Senior provincial government officials told the committee, during an oversight visit to the province, that the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency was in a process of refurbishing three large and 15 small neglected industrial parks that were inherited from the former KwaNdebele and KaNgwane homelands.
Talks are also underway with Limpopo province, which still manages the industrial parks in the Bushbuckridge area, originally in the old Gazankulu homeland, for Mpumalanga to take over these facilities.
The committee welcomed this initiative, which is expected to boost township economies and create much needed jobs in Mpumalanga. The province also said it was in a process of revising its economic development plans.
The portfolio committee is conducting oversight in the province with a special focus on the alignment of the provincial growth and development strategy to the Medium-Term Development Plan, and the alignment of provincial plans to the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation’s integrated planning framework.
The committee also held a comprehensive briefing session on progress in the implementation of the District Development Model (DDM) and conducted site visits to Special Economic Zones and DDM projects, including the state Mpumalanga Fresh Produce Market.
The committee Chairperson, Ms Teliswa Mgweba, said the DDM is not only an administrative reform, but the model is also a performance framework aimed at improving service delivery by ensuring that planning is informed by lived realities and that development remains people-centred.
“The DDM requires municipalities to be the primary drivers of development and deliver credible plans that respond to the socio-economic realities and priorities of communities, collaborating strategically with national and provincial departments, and state entities,” she said.
The committee also conducted site visits to the Mkhuhlu Agri Hub project in Bushbuckridge, an initiative undertaken by the provincial Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs aimed at empowering small-scale farmers. This project will be an anchor hub to the Mpumalanga Fresh Produce Market, which is yet to open in Mbombela.
During a visit to the Hoxane Bulk Water Treatment Plant, the committee was concerned by reports that the infrastructure is often vandalised, allegedly, by those associated with the provision of water tankers in the area, who make profits when the municipality cannot supply water. The treatment plant project is also an example of the success of the DDM, as it is jointly managed by the local municipalities of Mbombela and Bushbuckridge, under Ehlanzeni District, and the Department of Water and Sanitation.
Today the committee will conduct oversight visits to the South African Forestry Company Limited in Sabie, in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PLANNING, MONITORING AND EVALUATIONA, MS TELISWA MGWEBA.
For media enquiries or interviews with the committee Chairperson, please contact:
Name: Sakhile Mokoena
Cell: 081 705 2130
E-mail: smokoena@parliament.gov.za
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